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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22412509">Rescuing Miss Daisy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsidiousIntent/pseuds/InsidiousIntent'>InsidiousIntent</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic, Fluff, M/M, Near Future, Soft Boys, Tarlos - Freeform, kitten rescue, this is as soft as I could get</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:23:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,158</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22412509</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsidiousIntent/pseuds/InsidiousIntent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Daisy,” he looked down at the kitten, “how does that sound sweetheart? You like being a Daisy? I think you’re sure pretty like one.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star)/TK Strand</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>285</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Rescuing Miss Daisy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first foray into a new fandom! This is dedicated to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellakitse/profile">Bellakitse</a> who brought me into fandom, enabled my love for these soft boys, and gave me the prompt of kitten rescue.<br/>I hope you like it bb! </p><p>This is not beta'ed at all!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>TK was only now starting to feel the full extent of the oppressive Texas heat that songs and legends talked about. The constant sunshine, with the sticky weighted feeling of humidity was jarringly different from New York. Even the novelty of being able to drive everywhere was starting to fade in the face of constant air conditioner use. Showers had stopped holding any meaning for him.</p><p>He resigned himself to the sticky humid feeling as he made his way to Carlos’ place. Night time hadn’t done a whole lot to relieve the oppressive heat and humidity in the air, but at least the sun wasn’t a factor anymore. He parked on the street outside Carlos’ house, taking care to breathe out the irritation of the day before going inside. </p><p>He was trying to be open to this, this <em> new thing </em> they were doing. They would meet up for meals, or join the team for drinks after shifts, but TK couldn’t let himself take that next step and make those outings into actual dates. He wasn’t ready to call it dating, but Carlos’ company, his confidence, his <em> smile </em> made his wounds fade back for a while. So he told himself to try a little bit harder, and tonight he was going to Carlos’ place for dinner. <em> Just a meal </em> , he repeated in his head, <em> you are capable of having a meal with him. </em></p><p>He strolled up to the door but stopped by the trash cans outside. He was sure he heard something. Checking around the recycle bins showed him the something. The <em> something </em> turned out to be a kitten - small, and completely filthy, and very very scared, stuck under the bin tied in a plastic bag. He immediately tore open the bag and picked it up and held it close, the tiny distressed cries melting his heart immediately. The kitten mewled pathetically and curled up in his arms, shivering despite the heat. TK ran to the door, knowing he had to get the kitten warm and fed immediately, Carlos would just have to understand about dinner. </p><p>_____</p><p>By the time Carlos came home, the place was semi-trashed and screams were reverberating around the kitchen, that sounded like a murder livestream. The kitchen had paper towels thrown around, there was mud tracking everywhere, and there in the middle of it all was TK, hunched over the sink. Carlos walked up behind him slowly, and eyed the sink with suspicion, not sure why it was full of gray water, and why there was what looked like a small <em> kitten </em> in the water. </p><p>“Um,” he hedged, “what is going on, TK?” </p><p>TK turned around to stare at him. “I promise I didn’t mean to make a mess of your place. I found this kitten outside, and it was filthy and shivering and I couldn’t just leave it outside, and you weren’t here and I didn’t know what to do and -” </p><p>Carlos put an arm around his shoulders. “TK, take a breath. It’s fine, you’re fine.” He waited as TK stopped talking and breathed. “Now tell me why you’re torturing the poor little kitten.” </p><p>“It doesn’t like me! I swear cleaning it might as well be murder,” TK complained, flailing his hands slightly and sloshing water on the floor. Carlos had to hold his face and push him back a little, moving over to the sink. </p><p>“Watch and learn now, city boy. This is how you clean a kitten,” he said, grabbing a new kitchen cloth to wet and started moving it in small circles. The kitten instantly stopped its howling, and sat calmly through the rest of the bath. TK had no idea how Carlos did it, but he wasn’t surprised to find that Carlos had a calming effect on any living thing. After all, isn’t that why TK kept coming back to him?</p><p>Finally, after all the commotion, and a few scratches for both of them, the kitten was finally happy, purring like an engine and wrapped up in the softest towel Carlos could find. Its soft tan coloring now fully clean of dirt and trash, the kitten was securely held in Carlos’ massive arms, and TK couldn’t stop the warm stuttering feeling in his chest. TK stared at the picture they made, and Carlos’ soft smile, and his own smile couldn’t stay away from his face any longer. His heart couldn’t stop thudding in his chest. </p><p>“Her name is Daisy,” he blurted, turning and dashing to the kitchen to clean up. He didn’t see as much as hear Carlos come up next to him, slight confusion in his beautiful brown eyes. He needed to get a grip on himself.  </p><p>“What, did she tell you this psychically?” Carlos asked. </p><p>“No,” he responded, head down, scrubbing at the sink. After a second he looked up and sighed. “I named her, and that’s her name now.” </p><p>Carlos’s expression cleared. “Daisy,” he looked down at the kitten, “how does that sound sweetheart? You like being a Daisy? I think you’re sure pretty like one.” </p><p>TK beamed, the <em> sweetheart </em> ringing faintly in his ears. “I’ll finish up here and you get Miss Daisy settled first then we can get dinner?”</p><p>_____</p><p>Dinner consisted of food for them, and a tiny bowl of kitten formula that Carlos found in the back of his car. Once that cleanup was done they both collapsed on the living room couch, Daisy now wrapped in a blanket and snoozing between them. TK sunk back with an exhausted sigh, work and kitten rescue with cleanup duty had left him completely wrung out. Next to him Carlos was sort of boneless, stretched out and stroking Daisy’s back softly. It was all so nice and domestic in a way that TK hadn’t been used to at all, and it brought up a bittersweet ache under his ribs for the way life <em> could </em>have been, back when he dreamed of it. The wound was open and gaping still, and would stay for a while, but right then it was more of a gentle ache, a hazy memory.</p><p>But then Carlos looked up and smiled at him, in a half-sleepy contented way, and TK was almost okay that this is where he ended up, even though the journey was too rough at times, and the destination was still too far. </p><p>“So I guess you have a cat now,” Carlos said softly. He was looking down at Daisy, but TK still felt the weight of his gaze.</p><p>“You can share custody if you’d like,” he responded. “Mondays and Wednesdays, alternative weekends?” He almost laughed thinking about his dad’s reaction to bringing home a kitten, but he already knew it would be a fight to take the kitten away from here.</p><p>Carlos chuckled. “Or she could stay here, and you could help out.” </p><p>TK thought about it. The moment hung between them. </p><p>“Can’t let you take all the credit,” TK finally said. </p><p>Carlos’ smile was answer enough. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come talk to me on <a href="https://insidious-intent.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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